American Indian tribes and their casinos continue to serve as a lifeline for those in the construction industry and related businesses that still are reeling from the real estate market decline.

Arizona’s construction industry has lost 123,000 jobs since 2006, one of the worst losses for the industry nationwide. Employment peaked at more than 240,000 before plummeting to 116,800 last month, a 51 percent drop.

Those losses would have been much worse if not for work from Arizona tribes.

Tribes account for one-quarter of Kitchell’s current construction work in Arizona, she said. For example, Kitchell is a contractor on the Phoenix Premium Outlets mall being built by the Gila River Indian Community in the East Valley.

Throughout the recession, there still were projects to be awarded, whether new construction, expansions or renovations.

Tribal work also is helping architects, engineers and other businesses that work with contractors.

“With so few projects out there right now, the tribal projects do represent a good portion of the design and construction business,” said Neil Terry, a principal of architecture firm Orcutt Winslow, which designs health care and community facilities for several tribes.

On the drawing board

Several projects are in the pipeline. Hunt Construction has broken ground on the Navajo Nation’s first casino venture, a $150 million project near Flagstaff. The Gila River Indian Community is expanding its Vee Quiva and Lone Butte casinos

The Tohono O’odham Nation still wants to build a $500 million casino in the West Valley if it can overcome lawsuits from the city of Glendale and other tribes opposing the project.

“Fortunately, the tribes have weathered the economic downturn quite well and are one of the groups that is continuing to move forward with large-scale projects. As a result, the importance of their projects is even more highly elevated,” said Dennis Tucker, executive vice president of McCar­thy Building Cos. Southwest Division. He spearheads McCarthy’s American Indian construction projects.

McCarthy recently completed a $130 million expansion of the Casino Del Sol for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in Tucson. Contractors and architects also note that the tribes are becoming more sophisticated and professional in their procurements. They will give preference to Native American contractors, all things being equal, but contractors say tribes go with the best bids.

Still, bidders need to know their potential clients, Tucker said.

“Working with tribes requires a contractor to be familiar with practices that may be unique to a particular tribe, and relationships of trust between a contractor and the tribe plays an important role in selecting which contractor gets the work,” he said.

The Gila River Indian Community earlier this month awarded Perini Building Co. Inc. the construction contract for a new $135 million casino and 90-room hotel at its Vee Quiva site southwest of Phoenix. Perini is preparing for construction. It’s the Las Vegas company’s first gaming work for GRIC.

GRIC picked Las Vegas-based architecture firm Friedmutter Group and Ovations Food Service for the new casino project, which is slated to open next year. Friedmutter also got the architecture contract for the new Navajo casino.

There will be plenty of competition for the Lone Butte expansion. GRIC spokeswoman Melody Hudson said details of that work, including construction time lines, still are being determined.

“A contractor has not been selected to date for the hotel tower at Lone Butte Casino,” she said.

McCormick said tribes usually give preference to Native American-owned bidders, but there is plenty of work for contractors and other service providers. She said Kitchell started its Native American construction division in 1999 and has done more than $1 billion worth of work in the Southwest.

Beyond casinos

Arizona State University economist and real estate expert Michael Orr sees some glimmers of improvement in the local housing market and some financing and interest in apartment development. But he is far less optimistic about the commercial real estate markets bouncing back, noting the high vacancy rates and continued spending and financing obstacles.

The GRIC work comes on the heels of major recent projects on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. The Scottsdale-area tribe recently built Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, the spring training ballpark for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies, as well as the Talking Stick Resort Hotel.

The Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino Resort also opened a $20 million casino and hotel expansion south of Phoenix. Penta Building Group handled that work.

“Any and all work have been important during this recession for the construction industry. Tribal construction especially has offered business opportunities while other markets cooled down,” said Brett Jones, vice president of the Arizona Contractors Association.

Casinos are the tribes’ bread and butter, as the gaming cash allows them to build infrastructure, health facilities and schools. Terry said that is not happening with Arizona cities and state agencies that are strapped for cash.

There also are solar developments slated for some tribal lands. Gaming cash might help get those projects off the ground, though there are some problems from tribes’ perspective because they don’t want solar installations built on sacred land.